Topic 3 subtopic 1 Original Learned Helplessness dog experiments and criticisms of theory 2 per page notes.pdf

25/08/2020 Topic 3: Subtopic 1 Original Learned Helplessness dog experiments and criticisms of the original theory BIOLOGICAL AND LEARNING PSYCHOLOGY Course coordinator:...

25/08/2020 Topic 3: Subtopic 1 Original Learned Helplessness dog experiments and criticisms of the original theory BIOLOGICAL AND LEARNING PSYCHOLOGY Course coordinator: Associate Professor Carla Litchfield 1 HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF EARLY RESEARCH 1967 ― Triadic experiments with dogs 1969 ― Theory of learned helplessness 1975 ― First human ‘helplessness’ experiment published 1978 ― Attributional reformulation 1989 ― Hopelessness depression theory 1991 ― ‘Learned Optimism’ published 1993 ― ‘Learned Helplessness’ published 2 1  25/08/2020 ORIGINAL DOG EXPERIMENTS In the 1960s, Bruce Overmier, Martin Seligman & Steven Maier at the University of Pennsylvania observed that: dogs receiving electric shocks in a classical conditioning experiment did not learn to escape from shocks in a shuttle box (usually dogs do this easily) Why? 3 LEARNED HELPLESSNESS IN DOGS Shuttle box © https://i1.wp.com/gymlion.com/wp-content/uploads/shock.jpg 4 2  25/08/2020 ORIGINAL DOG EXPERIMENTS RESEARCH QUESTION Did receiving electric shocks make dogs ‘helpless’ later in the shuttle box? OR Did receiving uncontrollable electric shocks make dogs helpless? To answer the research question: the researchers designed a 3-group ‘triadic’ experiment. 5 DESIGN OF YOKED ‘TRIADIC’ DOG EXPERIMENTS PHASE 1: PAVLOVIAN HARNESS GROUP 1 ― escapable shock (dog can turn off shock with nose) GROUP 2 ― inescapable shock (yoked to Group 1) GROUP 3 ― no treatment (Control) 6 3  25/08/2020 RESULTS OF YOKED ‘TRIADIC’ DOG EXPERIMENTS PHASE 2: SHUTTLE BOX GROUP 1 ― escapable shock ― Normal Learning GROUP 2 ― inescapable shock ― Interference, two-thirds failed to learn GROUP 3 ― no treatment ― Normal Learning 7 ORIGINAL THEORY OF LEARNED HELPLESSNESS Exposing organisms to UNCONTROLLABLE OUTCOMES (outcomes independent of responding) produces 3 DEFICITS 1. COGNITIVE deficit: belief that outcomes are uncontrollable; 2. MOTIVATIONAL deficit: lack of response initiation; and, if the outcomes are aversive 3. EMOTIONAL deficit: fear & eventually depression 8 4  25/08/2020 ORIGINAL THEORY OF LEARNED HELPLESSNESS The theory goes well beyond the original experimental findings in 3 ways 1. applies to all organisms (not just dogs); 1. assumes even non-aversive uncontrollable outcomes can produce learned helplessness deficits; 2. claims to explain depression, but experimenters did not check for signs (symptoms) of depression in the dogs 9 CRITICISMS OF YOKED ‘TRIADIC’ DOG EXPERIMENTS 1. Does not rule out possibility of instrumental response 2. Possible neurochemical explanation 3. Application of Church's (1964) critique of yoked control designs: Subjects may differ in sensitivity to shock Sensitivity to shock may fluctuate over time 4. Results could be due to unpredictability (NOT uncontrollability) 10 5  25/08/2020 CRITICISMS OF ORIGINAL THEORY OF LEARNED HELPLESSNESS 1. Goes beyond the experimental findings (effect in dogs exposed to electric shocks) 2. Fails to explain why a third of subjects show no effect (do not become helpless) 3. As a theory of depression: (a) paradox of self-blame (b) fails to explain why not everyone is depressed 11 REFERENCES You don’t need to find these but they are given here to acknowledge sources Overmier, J.B. & Seligman, M.E. (1967). Effects of inescapable shock upon subsequent escape and avoidance responding. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 63, 28–33. doi: 10.1037/h0024166. Maier, S.F. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2016). Learned Helplessness at Fifty: Insights from Neuroscience. Psychological Review, 123, 349–367. doi: 10.1037/rev0000033 Peterson, C., Maier, S.F. & Seligman, M.E.P. (1993). Learned Helplessness. New York: Oxford University Press. Seligman, M.E.P. (1975). Helplessness. San Francisco: Freeman. Winefield, A.H. (1982). Methodological difficulties in demonstrating learned helplessness in humans. Journal of General Psychology, 107, 255-266. Sources for images are provided with the images or have been sourced as freely available for reuse (e.g. Pixabay) 12 6